UPDATE:CNN used information from the personal handwritten journal of the slain U.S. ambassador to Libya in newscasts against his family’s wishes — and without disclosing it to viewers. The Wall Street Journal reported today that relatives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens asked the State Department to intervene. CNN said it found the journal inside the U.S. consulate in Libya four days after the September 11 attack that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. CNN said it had notified Stevens’ family at once and arranged to give them the journal. State Department officials said CNN’s actions were “disgusting.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s senior adviser Philippe Reines scoffed that it was “not a proud moment in CNN’s history”. In response to the criticism CNN issued a statement late Saturday that the network did not initially report on the existence of a journal “out of respect for the family, but we felt there were issues raised in the journal which required full reporting.”

CNN host Anderson Cooper admitted Friday on his show (see video below) that the network on Wednesday broadcast reports based on Stevens’ journal without revealing the source. Last night Cooper disclosed to his viewers what CNN had done but did not include that it was against the family wishes. Here is a clip from Anderson’s Friday broadcast:

16 Comments

Art Vandelay • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

I hate CNN and I hate Fox News. I think they both slant every story to meet their respective political agendas. That being said, if Fox had done this, I would be willing to wager that 95% of the people who use this website would be up in arms.

Alex • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

Seriously, dude? Have you, you know, actually *read* the comments on any even mildly political story Nikki posts? The Drudgebots come out in force.

Conservatives and their bizarre persecution complex.

TJ • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

No, I’ve long ceased being outraged at anything Fixed News does, so it would elicit the same eyeroll that CNNs’ current actions do. Truth be told, all cable news is awful for various reasons. I don’t watch any of it myself. Sad to say, there are many blogs that actually do the objective factual reporting that you just can’t get from TV news.

Jed • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

How can anyone trust CNN anymore and they wonder why their ratings are tanking as bad as they are in primetime? They’re a joke!

Screw CNN • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

Somebody who works at CNN needs to steal Anderson Cooper’s private diary or his journal or hack into his personal email account and then leak everything private about AC to Gawker.com it’s the only way to teach AC a lesson. Expose his most private thoughts for the public’s right to know.

InthenameofART • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

“I hate CNN and I hate Fox News. I think they both slant every story to meet their respective political agendas. That being said, if Fox had done this, I would be willing to wager that 95% of the people who use this website would be up in arms.”

Comment by Art Vandelay

Are you serious? and MSNBC doesnt slant to appease their audience?

Art Vandelay • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

I’m sorry. I should have thrown in MSNBC but I forget about those little guys sometimes. Personally, I get my news from the CATO Institute and Deadline ;)

This isn’t just unprofessional and disgraceful, its also childish when you think about it.

1) CNN digs into the scene of a murder digging around looking for juicy newsbits and finds Amb. Stevens’ personal diary/journal.
2) They use the personal writings of Amb. Stevens and calls them a “source familiar with Amb. Stevens’ thinking”.
3) They do so against the wishes of the murdered and his bosses. And they fight with them to keep the diary as much as possible to dig dirt from before FINALLY giving it up.

This is not the act of professional, grown men and women. This is the act of children who want juicy gossip and have no sense of decency.

Ron • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

So CNN lied to cover their own butts and got caught. I supposed CNN is calling this Journalism.
Thanks —uhh… Anderson-uhhh Cooper

jo • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

Anderson Cooper had his Silver Fox moment in 2007ish. People look down on him now, because in these tough times, we realize he’s just a product of incredible nepotism. He’s a Vanderbilt, and his Ridiculist, while “fun,” I guess, is an insult to the profession. He’s a fluff, he’s a bad reporter, his talk show is terrible and stilted, he’s not funny, and his inappropriate laughing isn’t just about losing focus, it’s that he laughs at potty humor — that’s what does it to him. If any other journalist pulled that, they’d lose their job. But he’s rich, so he gets a free pass. But part of the network’s low ratings are because there’s absolutely nothing compelling about him.

FTCS • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

The Bad News: CNN keeps slipping to levels which are embarrassing to everyone except the News Corp newspaper group who set the bar for low life journalism.

The Good News: No one watches CNN so very few even saw this happen.

Alex • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

CNN found it? So some CNN reporter walked into a “CRIME SCENE” and removed evidence? Are they going to try to blame this on Romney jumping the gun or on that really awful movie?

Appalling Election Gambit Manufactured by Republican Operatives in the C.I.A? Where Innocent Lives Are Lost Violently in the Cause of Kicking Ass and Taking Down Names Through Media Virus? • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

They “found” it? I had no idea that “CNN” – whoever that is – is the Libyan embassy’s cleaning lady. “Leaked” seems to me to be the most logical explanation. A “leak” from the State Department perhaps. That the State Department decreed “reprehensible.” “CNN” found the letter, and Shaggy/Velma said, “hey guys, look what I found?” Like the Libyan embassy is a “Scooby Doo” episode that “CNN” stumbled into? They’re protecting a source it seems to me – which is fine – but call it as it is. Did they make a bad judgment call? Or walk into a trap? You know – similar to tactics like hacking into Milly Dowler’s family’s cell phones in order to PROLONG rubbernecking narrative because it sells newspapers – a tactic which CNN will then be immediately trashed for including the family’s understandable reaction. They’re “leaked” something that has historic and personal value that’s relevant to the ongoing story. They make a judgment call and decide to run with it. The leaker knows when leaking that the existence of the story will cause questions and concerns, an immediate red flag. And yet how can “CNN” discard something so white hot smoking gun in terms of ongoing troubling events in the Middle East…correctly reasons the “leaker” collective…all of which was supposedly triggered by a video made by someone who was once a federal informant? “CNN” is vilified…making FOX News the resounding winner by converting AC into a new Linda Tripp-cuckolded broadcaster of a totally different story…who became reviled by the country and discarded the people she helped. Look at a.) triggered events; and (b.) the letter…as constructed media parentheses with the world caught in the middle politically reinforcing the perception of Obama as an ineffectual Carter watching events spiral beyond his help or control. Which is what’s going on.

Just a hypothesis, but I fear the worst : truly evil stuff and people unknown to even their own colleagues, maybe even their own families.

Happy To Boycott CNN • on Sep 22, 2012 5:47 pm

CNN journalists rifle through a murdered American guy’s diary. How is that different from those Murdoch-y journalists hacking into the murdered English girl’s phone?